A recent study has found that ISU freshmen are less concerned about racial discrimination and understanding than national freshmen.

The Cooperative Institutional Research Program at UCLA conducted the survey in the fall of 2005 among 263,710 full-time freshmen nationally and gathered 2,700 respondents at Iowa State.

According to results released on campus March 24 at a President’s Council meeting, 18.6 percent of ISU freshmen said it was essential or very important to promote racial understanding, compared to 32.8 percent nationally.

Mattias Gassman, senior in classical studies, said he doesn’t think this response is alarming, reflecting the study’s results.

“When it isn’t a problem, don’t make it one,” he said. “Perhaps [the respondents] feel there is enough education.”

According to the survey, 26.9 percent of ISU freshmen said racial discrimination is no longer a problem in America, compared 21.3 percent of students nationally.

Carla Espinoza, associate vice president for human resources services in the Equal Opportunity and Diversity Office, said most ISU freshmen enter the university and see a very peaceful atmosphere, which makes issues of race and discrimination seem less important.

“When things are peaceful, we become complacent,” she said. “I would be willing to bet the students who responded are not racial minorities themselves.”

U.S. diversity and international studies courses are a requirement to every student’s general education at Iowa State, and Espinoza said she thought these courses would raise student’s awareness of these issues.

“I would have thought that in those courses they would have seen that we are operating under a deficit,” she said. “That’s troubling to me.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill said classes are not the only solution, although he said education and awareness are needed.

“When you think just having a diversity course will fix the problem, then you have a problem,” he said. “It’s not a one-shot deal.”

Hill said just over a year ago, ISU President Gregory Geoffroy appointed a council on diversity and had a consultant look into issues of diversity at Iowa State. As a part of that study, results from a campus climate survey were released. According to the report, 77 percent of respondents said they were comfortable with the overall climate for diversity at Iowa State. However, 22 percent of respondents said they had personally experienced hostile, offensive or intimidating conduct that interfered with their ability to work or learn on campus.

This percentage was broken down again, and 49 percent of respondents said the conduct was based on gender, 28 percent said it was based on race and 26 percent said it was because of his or her ISU position. Of this demographic, 26 percent of respondents were minorities.

Espinoza said this study was the first of its kind in 10 years.

Enhancing the value of diversity education is a goal for the university, according to an “Academic Roadmap” released by the Office of the Provost Feb. 15. Three areas are addressed in the proposal: Reviewing the quality of U.S. diversity and international studies courses, increasing opportunities for students to study abroad and expanding library material to adequately cover issues of diversity, multiculturalism and globalization.

“We need to continue to do what we are doing here, but we need to do other things, as well,” Hill said.

In the last GSB election, 1,326 students voted in favor of spending money to create a multicultural center in the Memorial Union. Hill said this addition would help raise student awareness of diversity issues.

“It’s going to help,” he said, “but we can’t just try to find the silver bullet.”

Stephen Robinson, freshman in art and design, said he didn’t see problems with discrimination on Iowa State’s campus. He said a multicultural center on campus would be a good idea, although he said he doesn’t know whether he would frequent the area.

“I don’t know – it’s an interesting idea,” he said. “I think it would appeal to minorities a lot more.”